What are the factors that influence the success of the BiSL framework for business information management?

Business Information Services Library (BiSL) is a framework from Dutch origin that helps organizations shape Business Information Management. BiSL is not used by every organization in the Netherlands. The question is what moves organizations to start using BiSL or what motives do they have to reject the use of BiSL. The research question in this study is: What motivates the adoption (or non-adoption) of the BiSL Framework? To answer this question 18 interviews were conducted. The interviews have been held with organizations that do use BiSL and with organizations that do not use BiSL. Among the interviews were three interviews with experts in the field of BiSL. The conclusion of our research is that organizational readiness is the deciding factor to Van Outvorst et al.use BiSL. To apply BiSL successfully there is a need of support, knowledge and a certain level of organizational maturity in business information management

Open Data Within governmental Organisations: Effects, Benefits and Challenges of the Implementation Process

This article describes the growth of open government, open data and the means for transparency and accountability but aims to reflect on the bottlenecks and actual practicallity of opening data to the public domain by two governmental bodies. The Municiaplity of The Hague and The Province of South-Holland of The Netherlands are part of 2 research programmes called ‘Government of the Future’, which main goals are to explore and establish knowledge on societal innovation by new applications and possibilities of long term effects of ICT’s in the public sector. Part of these programmes are themes as transparecny and open data, which are  viewed form the somewhat pragmatic and operational side of its applicability. The paper shows the development within the governmental bodies and captivates the ‘readiness’ for open data

Impact of changing wind conditions on foraging and incubation success in male and female wandering albatrosses

Wind is an important climatic factor for flying animals as by affecting their locomotion, it can deeply impact their life-history characteristics. In the context of globally changing wind patterns, we investigated the mechanisms underlying recently reported increase in body mass of a population of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) with increasing wind speed over time. We built a foraging model detailing the effects of wind on movement statistics and ultimately on mass gained by the forager and mass lost by the incubatingpartner. We then simulated the body mass of incubating pairs and their incubation success under varying wind scenarios. We tracked the frequency at which critical mass leading to nest abandonment was reached to assess incubation success. We found that wandering albatross behave as time-minimizers during incubation as mass gain was independent of any movement statistics but decreased with increasing mass at departure. Individuals forage until their energy requirements, which are determined by their body conditions, are fulfilled. This can come at the cost of their partner’s condition as mass loss of the incubating partner depended on trip duration. This behaviour is consistent with strategies of long-lived species which favoured their own survival over their current reproductive attempt. In addition, wind speed increased ground speed which in turn reduced trip duration and males foraged further away than females at high ground speed. Contrasted against an independent dataset, the simulation performed satisfactorily for males but less so for females under current wind conditions. The simulation predicted an increase in male body mass growth rate with increasing wind speed whereas females’ rate decreased. This trend may providean explanation for the observed increase in mass of males but not of females. Conversely, the simulation predicted very few nest abandonments, which is in line with the high breeding success of this species and is contrary to the hypothesis that wind patterns impact incubation success by altering foraging movement

The stress response is attenuated during inclement weather in parental, but not in pre-parental, Lapland longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) breeding in the Low Arctic

AbstractBirds breeding at high latitudes can be faced with extreme weather events throughout the breeding season. In response to environmental perturbations, vertebrates activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and synthesize corticosterone, which promotes changes in behavior and physiology to help the animal survive. The parental care hypothesis suggests that the HPA axis activity should be downregulated during the parental stage of breeding to prevent nest abandonment. However, it is unknown what happens to HPA axis activity in response to severe weather at the transition from the pre-parental to parental stages of breeding. We sampled baseline corticosterone levels and the time course of corticosterone elevation over 60min of restraint stress and assessed body condition and fat stores in Lapland longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) breeding in the Low Arctic in the presence and absence of snowstorms. The results showed that during the pre-parental stage, HPA axis activity was up-regulated in response to snowstorms, with corticosterone levels continuing to increase through 60min of restraint. However, once birds were parental, HPA axis activity was unaffected by snowstorms and levels peaked at 10min. Fat levels and body condition did not change in response to snowstorms but fat levels declined in males during the pre-parental stage. These data suggest that the parental care hypothesis can be applied to severe storm events; parental birds restrained the activity of the HPA axis, likely to focus on the reproductive effort that is already underway, while pre-parental birds greatly upregulated HPA axis activity in response to snowstorms to maximize self-preservation

Breeding on the leading edge of a northward range expansion: differences in morphology and the stress response in the arctic Gambel's white-crowned sparrow

Individuals at the forefront of a range shift are likely to exhibit phenotypic traits that distinguish them from the population breeding within the historic range. Recent studies have examined morphological, physiological and behavioral phenotypes of individuals at the edge of their range. Several studies have found differences in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in response to acute restraint stress in individuals at the range limits. HPA axis activation leads to elevations in glucocorticoids that regulate physiology and behavior. Here we compare the hormonal profiles and morphometrics from Gambel's white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) breeding at the northern limit of the population's range to those birds breeding within the historic population range. Birds breeding at the northern limit experienced a harsher environment with colder temperatures; however, we found no differences in arthropod prey biomass between the northern limit and more southern (historic) sites. Males at the northern limit had higher body condition scores (mass corrected for body size) compared to individuals within the historic range, but no differences were found in beak and tarsus lengths, wing chord, muscle profile or fat stores. In males during the pre-parental stage, before breeding commenced, HPA axis activity was elevated in birds at the northern limit of the range, but no differences were found during the parental or molt stages. Females showed no differences in HPA axis activity during the parental stage. This study suggests that "pioneering" individuals at the limits of their breeding range exhibit physiology and morphology that are distinct from individuals within the historic range

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Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin